A Private Concert
by Amles80
Summary: Yuuri keeps learning new things about his friends in Shin Makoku. This time it's about one of Gwendal's secret talents – one that Yozak knows and appreciates a lot! *slash*


It was getting late; the darkness had fallen hours ago already. Yuuri had insisted on accompanying the musician into town after the concert, and Yozak and Conrad had accompanied Yuuri.

The musician was a pianist from Caloria, who until recently had performed only there and in the Shimaron countries. It was Fanvalen who had told Cecilie about him, and because of Yuuri's friendship with Caloria, a concert tour in Shin Makoku had been arranged. The castle had been the first stop on the tour, and later the same evening the pianist was going to play for all the townspeople.

Yozak had enjoyed the concert like everybody else, but he kept his personal opinion to himself: the guy was good, but he had heard better.

That's why he was not surprised when they heard piano music when the three of them crossed the empty courtyard. It came from an open window somewhere above them.

Yuuri stopped as if he was petrified when he noticed.

"What?! What's this? Who's playing – is that guy _back_?!"

They had just dropped the Calorian musician off where a crowd of people where curiously awaiting him, so there was no way he could be back, and Conrad told Yuuri so.

"But who's playing? I didn't know we had our own pianist here. Is it Günter?"

"No!" Conrad laughed. "Why do you think that? He's tone deaf."

"Oh." Yuuri mulled that over. "I didn't know. He just seems like the kind of guy who would play the piano… So who is it, then? Is it, perhaps, your mother? Or has Anissina invented a self-playing instrument? Is it a CD?"

"A what?" Conrad laughed again and Yozak had to smile, too. Yuuri was confused, and sometimes such confusion was amusing to watch, but it was going to get even better.

"Tell the kiddo, Commander!"

"The answer is no, to all of that. It's Gwendal, Yuuri. He's your mystery musician."

Conrad smiled and began walking again, but Yuuri was frozen on the spot. His eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

"What?! And you say that like it's no big deal? _Gwendal_? Where is the music coming from? I want to go in there and listen properly!"

"That's not possible, young master", Yozak said, hiding his wide grin with a cough. "You're surprised that you didn't know, but that's because His Excellency doesn't want it to be common knowledge. There's nothing he hates more than an audience when he's playing."

"But…" Yuuri searched for words. "But we're not 'audience', we're his friends!"

"I like the way you think", Conrad said, "but unfortunately, this is something Gwendal feels strongly about. He plays for the same reason he knits things; for himself. He rarely plays at all and he won't even let our mother be in the room most of the time. I guess the Calorian guy inspired him."

"Well, it's obvious that Gwendal is even better than him", Yuuri said, upset now. He looked up at the castle towers that were bathing in moonlight, trying to localize the open window. "I don't understand. Why is Gwendal always hiding some parts of his personality? He pretends to be this big scary guy who never smiles, but deep down he's… he's not like that at all…"

Yozak looked at the young king and could understand his feelings. Gwendal was secretive and introverted at the best of times but what Yuuri didn't know was that he saw through Gwendal better than most people ever did, and that after such a short amount of time. Then again, Yuuri could see through most of them, because he was always looking for the best in people.

Yozak supposed the boy king was onto something – even if people often disappointed him, in the end, there usually turned out to be something good in everyone after all.

"I don't think it makes sense to ask 'why' in this case", he said. "Why do you always want to be friends with everybody? It's just the way you are. And this is his way."

"True", Conrad agreed. "Come on now, guys. It's getting late."

"Right", Yuuri said, but he still didn't move. "Yozak, you don't suppose we could climb up on a roof to get a little closer?"

"What?" Conrad sighed and shook his head. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, but I don't think you have it in you to climb up there without making a sound to alert him to your presence."

The music was easily heard since there were no other sounds in the still of the night. No guards were moving and no people were up and talking except the three of them. Still, Yozak could understand the feelings that made Yuuri ask such a thing. It would be so much better if they could be in the same room as the piano player, if the music could surround them completely.

"And before you ask", he added to Conrad's comment, "no; there's no way I'm climbing up with you on my back."

Yuuri sighed and looked pleadingly at the two men, but Conrad shook his head. There was a frown between his eyes that made him almost look a little bit like his older brother; a rare sight that showed just how serious he was.

"You are the king and have the right to be as demanding and rude as you want, but you wouldn't really want to intrude on a man who wishes to be left alone, do you?"

Conrad walked back to the boy and put a gentle hand on the small of his back.

"Come along now…"

Yuuri yielded to the better judgement of the man who named him and began walking again toward the castle, but he was still muttering about what a shame it was to let a talent go to waste by only letting the moonlight know about it.

Yozak, following them for a little bit, wasn't sure he agreed. Yuuri was right in theory – Gwendal was an excellent musician and in a way it was a waste – but it was also Gwendal's right to decide what to do with his talent. If showing off made him uncomfortable, then by all means, Yozak thought, let him do what makes him happy.

But of course, Yozak kind of had special privileges…

When Conrad and Yuuri had gone their way and left Yozak to disappear wherever he wanted into the shadows of the night, Yozak went back the way he came and crossed the courtyard and walked onto a lawn, jumped over a hedge and went into the direction where he knew he could find a certain kind of bushes.

The lawn and the sleeping flowers that waited for the dawn and the new light were soaked in cold, glittering moonlight. Yozak could still hear the music, but fainter, where he was. The melody was melancholy, but softly so, not heavy and depressed. It was the kind of music he'd expect from Gwendal on such a night. It was the kind of music that made him take a detour into the garden and find a deep red rose, the kind with lots of big, dark petals and a rich scent that somehow always made him think of Gwendal if he ever came across one. He did not understand why Lady Chérie hadn't chosen such a flower to share its name with her eldest son.

Yozak didn't pick the flower – he had to draw the line somewhere! – but he smelled it and touched it lightly, just because it was pretty and it was one of those nights…

And then he climbed up.

It was easy, because he knew exactly where to find a place for his fingers to grab the stone and where to put his feet, but he climbed slowly to make sure he did it soundlessly. As he climbed up the wall of the castle, the music washed over him and almost made him tremble too much. The sound of Gwendal at the piano – a rare treat as it was – always made him feel weak, and feeling weak was a definite disadvantage when climbing a stone wall high above the ground. But that just meant that he had to be extra careful and he crept closer slowly, slowly.

Finally, Yozak was resting on the overhanging roof of a projection right next to the window.

He closed his eyes and listened. His heart was beating fast like it always did when Gwendal was close. There were butterflies in his stomach, as if he was back to the time when he was crushing on the other man without knowing how to make a move. Gwendal had seemed so unattainable back then – he still did, but Yozak knew that he _wasn't_, and the thought made him smile.

"Yozak." Gwendal's deep voice was heard over the music that didn't stop. "If you're already listening, why don't you come all the way in?"

Yozak's smile grew wider. He got up to his feet and with two well-placed steps, a steady grip of his fingers and a swing, he was on the windowsill and then inside the room.

Gwendal played without having to read the music; there were no papers on the piano and that's why the room was only lit up by a couple of candles and the moonlight. He was in his shirtsleeves and looked a lot more relaxed than what most people ever saw him.

"How did you know I was there?" Yozak asked and Gwendal stopped playing and turned his head to look at him by the window.

"There's nothing wrong with my ears, and who else would be climbing up the walls?"

_Nobody else would_, Yozak hoped. Well, Yuuri would, if he could, just because he was stubborn like that…

"I didn't mean to interrupt", Yozak said. "Please, go on. Keep playing."

"You're not interrupting", Gwendal said, and with that, he took up a new tune, a lighter one that seemed to suggest he was in a good mood.

Yozak got away from the window and rested against the wall next to it. He had a really good view from there, and he poured himself a glass of wine from a decanter on a small table. There was only one glass, but he didn't offer it to Gwendal first. He was playing; he wouldn't want it until later.

The red wine was full-bodied and rich just like the summer night. It spread a slow, pleasant warmth through his body, meeting the heat that was already in his blood, and Gwendal kept on playing.

Yozak watched his hands. They were nothing like the hands of the pianist from Caloria; long and slender fingers. No, Gwendal's hands were big and steady, they were made for holding swords and making the earth move. And yet those strong and hard fingers could hold a quill so steadily to create the most elegant writing, they could touch a dove or a kitten and make them coo and purr in delight, they could brush aside a straying strand of hair lightly as the wind, and they could create this wonderful, wonderful music…

Yozak shivered and smiled. There were many, many things he liked about Gwendal, but one of his favorite things was watching him like that.

Gwendal played as if he had forgotten that he wasn't alone. One tune ended and was followed by another. Gwendal didn't play the piano very often, but when he did, it sounded like he was doing the only thing in the world that he enjoyed. Yozak didn't think that was quite true – he had reasons to believe he knew a thing or two about what Gwendal enjoyed – but he played _as if_ it was true.

And then Gwendal began to sing.

Hearing him sing was… different from hearing him speak. His voice was always pleasant – warm, deep and steady – but when he sang, only at times like that, alone or almost alone in the night, it made Yozak's toes curl. It made him lose his breath and it made his chest ache in a burning, delicious way.

The melody he played was soft and slow and his voice was playing with the song, following it and adding another dimension to it, full of emotion, as if he was filled by something bigger than himself or as if he was larger than life and the glowing centre of the universe.

That was what Yozak felt when he looked at him. He was melting and tensing at the same time, his knees were weak, his legs were soft, and… there was the opposite of softness, too.

He had to put the glass down. It was empty anyway, but he wouldn't want to risk dropping it just because Gwendal was slowly driving him crazy by being so beautiful and perfect…

When the song ended, there was nothing but silence. Yozak could hear the sound of his own breathing and he both hoped and feared that Gwendal would start over with one more song.

But he didn't. He sat there in silence for a moment as if he had forgotten that he had company, and Yozak didn't say anything.

Then Gwendal got up from the piano stool and with a few long steps, he was standing very close to Yozak, close enough to touch, and he took the decanter and filled the glass Yozak had been drinking from, and emptied it slowly with his eyes closed.

He opened his eyes when he put it down on the table again, and then he looked properly at Yozak for the first time that night and, with a small smile on the corner of his lips, he asked:

"So… did you like tonight's performance?"

Yozak nodded, "I did, yes. You don't want to play some more?"

Gwendal shook his head and moved closer to Yozak. The room was cool but Gwendal was warm even without his shirt. Yozak felt the warmth of his body and the warmth of his breath when he leaned closer as if he was going to kiss Yozak's cheek or his neck, but he didn't.

His voice was low and intense as he said into Yozak's ear:

"No, I don't want to play anymore tonight. It is your turn to play now."

Yozak knew that Gwendal wasn't talking about music. He wouldn't be able to play an instrument if his life depended on it. But Gwendal's skin, Gwendal's body… that, he knew how to play.


End file.
